Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

UK is world's second biggest arms dealer with 60% of weapons sold to Middle East

UK is world's second biggest arms dealer with 60% of weapons sold to Middle East

Consignments sold abroad as part of the £86billion of weapons exports made in the past decade included Typhoon fighter jets, Brimstone missiles, Paveway bombs, guns and tear gas

Consignments sold abroad as part of the £86billion of weapons exports made in the past decade included Typhoon fighter jets, Brimstone missiles, Paveway bombs, guns and tear gasBritain is the world’s second biggest weapons exporter, with sales of £86billion in the last decade, Government figures revealed yesterday.

In total 60% of the arms – including jets, missiles, bombs and guns – went to the Middle East, mostly Saudi Arabia.

Consignments sold abroad included Typhoon fighter jets, Brimstone missiles, Paveway bombs, guns and tear gas.

Anti-arms campaigners branded the figures “shameful”, saying the UK was “arming repression around the world”.

The Government reiterated that defence exports generate thousands of well-paid, skilled jobs and sustain capabilities that help keep the nation safe.

The Department for International Trade figures show that from 2010-19 only the US was ahead of Britain in the arms export market.


Plenty of Paveway IV missiles were sold


Last year the UK sold £11billion of weapons abroad, £3billion down on 2018.

That amounted to 16% of the global arms trade, with the US on 47%, Russia 11% and France 10%.

Besides the Middle East, Britain’s biggest weapons export destinations were Europe and North America.


Around 60% of the weapons are sold to Middle Eastern countries


Other major defence orders included Hawk jets to India, aircraft engines to France and work on projects for the US.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade’s spokesman Andrew Smith told the Mirror: “Weapons dealers will be celebrating but these figures should be a source of great shame.

Boris Johnson and his colleagues are always talking about ‘Global Britain’ and the importance of human rights and democracy, yet they are arming and supporting repression around the world.


Andrew Smith said the exports 'supported repression'


“These sales are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. For many people they could be a matter of life and death.

“UK-made weapons have played a devastating role in the Saudi-led bombing of Yemen, helping to create the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

“Wherever there is conflict there will always be arms companies trying to profit from it.

“This profiteering does not just enable war but actively fuels it.

"Sales being approved today could be used in atrocities for many years to come.”

Britain announced in July that arms sales to Saudi Arabia, suspended last year, would be resumed.

Judges had called for a review into that country’s alleged breaches of international law in Yemen but the investigation later found “no clear risk” of future serious breaches.

The figures also showed that Britain made almost £4billion last year from exporting cyber security expertise, with services sold mostly to Europe, North America and Asia.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×